Why did I join a union?

On the morning of August 20, 2003, I was in my classroom at Holy Cross Catholic School in Kansas City, Missouri, preparing for my fourth year as a middle school teacher.  My students would arrive in two days.  Our theme for that year was “Celebrate What is Right!” - and I was determined to make the year a memorable one.

Suddenly, one of my fellow middle school teachers burst into my room crying, “They’ve closed St. Francis!”

Two days before the start of the school year, the Jesuit parish of St. Francis Xavier suddenly closed its school.  Financial issues and rising debt were blamed.  The eighty-three families with students were told to find other schools.  The twenty-four teachers and staff, including the principal, were told to find other jobs.  Because St. Francis Xavier was a Jesuit parish, even the Diocese, its school superintendent, and the Bishop himself were powerless to stop the closing.

People tried to help.  Someone established a Teacher Assistance Fund to help pay for continuing medical insurance.  One of the fired teachers was pregnant and just weeks away from having her baby.  Students in other schools offered to pay $1 to wear jeans and donated the money to the Fund.  Parent-Teacher organizations donated part of the proceeds from their fundraisers.  Fellow teachers donated precious dollars from our well-below market salaries.  But, to my knowledge, less than $8,000 was raised.

I contacted the National Association of Catholic School Teachers and researched the possibility of forming a local union.    I talked with local leaders in St. Louis where the Church hierarchy had resisted all attempts to organize despite clear Church teaching about the importance of worker rights.  By 2004, the St. Louis Archbishop had decreed, "Neither the Archdiocese nor individual parishes will recognize or bargain collectively with any organization as a representative of the teachers."

After a year had passed, I had no idea what to do.  The fear and anger felt by many teachers had dissipated.    It was clear that organizing a union was not something that could be discussed openly.  I felt alone, powerless, without a voice.  My wife and I decided that it was time to leave Holy Cross and get a job in a public school - with professional-level salary, retirement and benefits. 

This experience left me with a profound determination to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT about our profession.  As a professional, I was accustomed to having my opinions heard and respected.  It astonished me that decisions in a school system could be made that affected me and my students without my input.  I would not be silent again.

Are you a Solon or an Aesop?

Solon was a great and wise lawgiver from Athens.  While he was at the court of the wealthy King Croesus of Lydia, he could not help but notice the extravagant belongings and furnishings.  Croesus, pointing around to all his wealth, asked Solon:  "Do you know any man happier than I?"

Solon retold the story of fellow citizens who were, by his account, happier than the wealthy Croesus.  One man had a reputation for honesty and, when he died in the service of Athens, he left behind reputable sons.  Other happy men earned a peaceful and tranquil death after providing a great service to their mother.

"Croesus at once judged Solon to be a strange and uncouth fellow, since he did not make an abundance of gold and silver his measure of happiness, but admired the life and death of an ordinary private man more than all this display of power and sovereignty."

It so happened that Aesop, the great fabulist and former slave, was also at the court of King Croesus and overheard this exchange.  He feared that Solon had angered the King, so Aesop sought out Solon to give some advice.  Aesop said, "Either we must not come to mighty men at all, or we must try to please them."  But Solon replied: "Either we must not come to mighty men, or we must tell them the truth."

-----------------------------------------

It is neither easy nor pleasant to "speak truth to power."  Ofttimes, we fear personal repercussions that may arise if we express our true feelings or opinions.  In tough economic times, we fear the loss of our jobs, or even the loss of special attention or privileges that come with being on someone's "good side."

Aesop certainly would understand this fear.  As a former slave, he undoubtedly knew the degradation that comes with the denial of freedoms, choices and privileges.  Even if he had been well treated for the time, Aesop would have known that, as a slave, he had to subvert his own opinions and desires to those of his master.  

Solon had no such experiences.  He had been born a free citizen of the great city-state of Athens.  Though economically troubled in the early sixth century BCE, Athens had its greatest years ahead of it.  Solon, according to the ancient sources, was responsible for laying the foundation for Athenian democracy and broadening the participation in its decision-making processes.  His power over other men came from the power of his reason, the power of his ability to communicate, the power of his ideas.

As educators, we are in a unique situation.  Our students and their families are often voiceless or believe themselves to powerless before the education bureaucracy that lies before them.  They know that the testing regime does nothing for their children.  They understand that employees deserve a living wage.  But they so often stand silent because they do not know where to begin, how to start, or what to say.  Just like employees, they fear the repercussions.

We can be their voice.

Today, stand up and speak like Solon for your students and their families.

Today, speak truth to power.

-------------------------

I retold a version of this story when I accepted the Shirley Cromer Leadership Award in Fall 2010.  Some people have asked about it since then, but I've added the more complete version here.

If you want the "original" - or at least one of various translations, you can go to:

http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/biography/solon.htm 

http://perseus.tufts.edu/hopper  Plutarch's Solon, Chapters 27 and 28

Why did I join the NEA?

Sometimes big decisions depend on little things. 

In 2005, I was hired by the Independence School District.  I was going to work in a public school for the first time.  During orientation, both teacher associations represented in the District made a presentation to the new teachers.  I do not recall anything specific about what was said.

The Independence Community Teachers Association (ICTA) had a great breakfast spread with all sorts of homemade cinnamon rolls, quick breads, muffins and rolls.  A feast for sight and smell.  I love bread.  I love sweet things.  I love butter.  Put all those things together and I am in heaven.  If I voted with my stomach, I would have joined them immediately.

The Independence National Education Association (INEA) sponsored a lunch.  I remember these plastic red apples on the tables filled with candy that were given away as door prizes.  I wasn't thrilled at all when I won one of these apples.  I sat with the new teachers and NEA members from my building.  Next to me was a young man, a science teacher, who I knew was a respected member of the faculty.  He wore an “I am the NEA” button.  I don't recall what, if anything, we talked about.

But I remembered that blue square button.

On the last day of orientation, an assistant superintendent announced that all new middle school teachers would have an additional day of professional development the following day.  It would be my 6th day of New Teacher Academy.  “Sorry for such short notice,” she said.  With all the other required professional development for returning teachers, that meant I would only have 1 contract day in my new classroom before my students arrived.  I was furious.

At that moment, I recalled my colleague with the button, “I am the NEA.” 

“Yes,” I thought, “I too am the NEA.”

I still wear my "I am the NEA" button with pride.  

When I wear that button, I remember that young teacher who was essentially shouting what I had only heard whispered before.  "I am the NEA."  

When I wear that button, I remember that, if I want to make changes in my working conditions, I need to stand up and speak out, "I am the NEA."

When I wear that button, I remember that I belong to a great association of individuals, united by their collective belief that every child deserves a great public education.  "I am the NEA."

My point-of-view

Campaign websites are typically written in "third-person" point-of-view to lend an objective feel to the information.  But I just did not feel right typing a page entitled, "Who is Christopher Eager?" or "Why should you vote for Christopher Eager?"

I am running for NEA Director because our profession needs people to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT about the learning and working conditions in our public schools.  It seemed disingenuous for me to hide behind a "third-person" narrator.

You are electing a PERSON - not some abstract entity known as "Christopher Eager."  I have experiences, beliefs and opinions that will inform my work as NEA Director.  You deserve to know what those are.